Self-inflating articles



March 18, 1958 o. J. EDWARDs 2,826,767

' SELF-INFLATING mxcms Filed Nov. 15. 1954 i I 115?]... a

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INVENTOR. 07 1a JEdn a rds BY A aiiy.

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and for minimizing the United States Patent 'O 2 ,826,767 SELF-INFLATING Ari-riches rley- J'. Edward's, Battle Creek, Mich. ApplicatihnNevember15, 19s'4-, senarNo:46s,s67 7 Claims. or. -34 1 V 2 fully described ah'dfparticularlypoifitedoutin the claims, the' annexed drawing,- and the following descriptien'fsetting forth in detail ce'rtai'nmeans for carfyingou't'the'inventi'on, s'u'ch disclosed means illustrating; however, but one'of various ways which the principleofthe invention'maybe'used. v

Inthe annexed'drawin'gt I Figure 1 is a plan vie'w 'of the pillow in deflated form. Figure 2 is a sectional view' on line 22 of Figure 1 looking" in the directionof the arrows,.the' casin side walls being shown separated wherenotconnected to each 0t er. r a

Figure 3 is a ectional v'iewen line 33' of Figure 1, looking in the dir'cetiori' of the" arrows, the casing side walls being again separated where not connected to'each other.

Figure 4 is an 4-4 ofFigure 1,

enlarged detail 'fsectibna'l' view on line lhok'iiigiri the direction of the arrows,

' portions of the casingsi'de walls not" cbnnected with each application of fresh cases,'and storage: in readiness for This procedure entails quite an-a'rnount otherpas'sengers.

large storage space for the of inconvenience, requires a pillows, and necessitates expense for laundering the cases and replacing worn-out cases. This has led to some trains not having pillows to rent even" though there is a demand for same. -It was a recognition at this situation and the difficulties and shortcomings of the" field which led to the conception and developmentof the present i'ri- The present invention aims to provide a cheap yet serviceable self-inflatingitem, such as a pillow, to be sold at a reasonable price to the'pa'ssengers, used for the one tfr ip, and then thrown away. Thus, a great number of the pillows, in their normally deflated form, may becompactly folded and stored in a small space, and the exsense and inconvenience previously incurred will be saved.

In carryingout the above end, a flexible gastig'ht'casing is provided and this casing contains a cartridge of highly compressed gas to expand and inflate the casing when released, and a further object of the invention is to provide finger-actuated puncturing means for the cartridge seal which may be easily operated when the pillow is to be inflated.

The puncturing means is in the form of a pointed pin, or tack, and astill further object is to make novel provision for holding this pin, or tack, in readiness for use danger of accidental operation thereof. 7 1

"Another" object is .to provide a sleeve to frictionally "surmend he cartridge and extend beyond the puncturable end of the latter, said sleeve having a closure spaced from said puncturable end of the cartridge, the puncturing pin, or tack, being mounted in the closed end of said sleeve and being operable by inwardly sliding said sleeve upon the cartridge, said sleeve having passages through which the released gas flows into the flexible pillow casing.

Yet another object is to provide a flexible pillow casing which, preferably, is sufliciently transparent to allow the user to see the cartridge and operate the puncturing means without difficulty.

A further object is to confine the cartridge in a novel pocket in a restricted portion of the flexible casing, preferably a corner thereof, the pocket however being in communication with the rest of the casing interior to allow the gas released into said pocket to inflate the casing.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention then, consists of the means hereinafter other being"again'shown'separated. I

Figure 5 is anen'd viewers the cartridge surrounding sleeve, as seen from the'ope'n' end of 'sanie; v

The construction shown in the drawing will bespecifically described, to facilitate understandingthe rinciples involved, but it is to be understood that variations may be made-within the scope andispi'rit of the'inve'rition asset forth.

A flexible casing 6 i's"' provided,- and maybe of rubberized fabric of suitable type, but preferably it is formed from a relativelylow cost modern'tjough plasticsu'ch as cellophane, Pliofilm,"or' Vi's Queen CIf'Clear or colored stock may be used but preferably it should have sufficient transparency remake the compressed gas cartridge 7' readily visible" for operation. Two sheets 8 of the jm'aterial are used and their edges are seamed" to gether as shown at 9'. Also, the twoshfeets 8 arepreferably seamed together along longitudinalilines- 10 terminating in'wardly of the casing e'ridsl' Then, too, while the cartridge 7 may be left loose in casing 6, I' prefer to have these sheets further seamed together on lines 11 and 12 to provide a pocket 13, preferably, in onecorne'r of the casing, and in which pocket the cartridge 7 is confined. Where the sheets 8 are of plastic, such as cellophane, all of the'seams 9, 10', 11, and12] may be accomplished by heat and pressure as isLwelf'known in fabricating various articles" from plastics. I

The cartridge 7 is of the commonlyknowh form and contains a highly compressed and highly expansible gas,

This cartridge has the usual puncturable seal in the reduced size end 14' and'when this seal is punctured the gas is released and expands to inflate the casing '6. For' a pillow meeting the present requirements, a conventional 250 cubic inch" CO; cartridge is satisfactory and the pillow gas capacity should be such as will be satisfactorily inflated by this amount of gas.

A sleeve 15 frictionally surrounds the cartridge 7 and extends beyond the sealed end 14 thereof. This extended end of the sleeve 15 has an end wall 16 spaced from the cartridge 7. A disk 17 is fitted into the closed end of the sleeve and carries a pin 18 for puncturing the seal of cartridge 7. This pin is preferably formed by an ordinary thumb tack forced centrally through the disk 17, and this disk may well be of cardboard or the like.

The sleeve 15 is normally so positioned on the cartridge 7 that there is no danger of the pin 18 accidentally puncturing the seal of said cartridge. However, by forcibly sliding the sleeve '15 further in on the cartridge by thumb ,or finger pressure, the pin 18 punctures the seal and the gas is released to inflate the casing 6.

This sleeve 15 has gas-escape passages into the pocket 13 and this pocket communicates at the ends of the seams ferred construction,

rugated to provide internal cartridge-engaging ribs 19 and r 11 and 12 with the rest of the casing interior.

the sleeve 15 is longitudinally corgas-escape passages between said ribs.

The cartridge and its sleeve, if desired, may be readily visible through the casing 6 and the purchaser need only know that end wall 16 is to be pressed firmly against the end of cartridge 7 to puncture the sealant to cause the inflation of the casing. This instruction may be imparted by printed matter on or associated with the casing, or orally at the time of purchase.

Normally, the device is entirely deflated and folded into compact form, allowing storage of a large number in small space. This is of great advantage to those who have the devices for sale.. Also, the purchaser may conveniently place the folded deflated article in a hand bag or garment pocket until its use is required. It is then a simple matter to remove and inflate the device into a comfortable pillow, and when this. pillow has served its function, it may be thrown away.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a novel and desirable article which may be in the form of an inflatable pillow or other item, even toys, has been disclosed for the desired purposes. However, attention is again invited to the possibility of making variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as herein set forth.

Other modes of applying the principle of my. invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the self-inflating article and combinations herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed. 1

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A self-inflating article in the form of a pillow, which comprises a flexible gastight casing having, relatively closely spaced but large area opposite side walls, a puncturable cartridge of highly compressed gas to be punctured only at the time of inflating said casing, a puncturing. pin for puncturing said cartridge, and a relatively freely slidable sleeve means considerably shorterthan said cartridge and fitting .over the puncturable end of same, said sleeve having agas-escape means. and also mounting said pin in cooperative relation with same in readiness for puncturing of said cartridge when said means slidably fitting said'cartridge is manually forced into puncturing position on the latter, said cartridge, pin and the slidable mounting means-for samebeing assembled into a single inflatingunit, said unit being disposed for movement in vario'us directions entirely within said casing. Y

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; wherein'said inflating unit is disposed and held in one corner of said casing which is sufficiently transparent to make said inflating unit visible for ease of operation.

In a pre- 1 3. A structure as specified in claim 1; together with means uniting restricted portions of the opposite side walls of said casing and providing a pocket in which. said inflating unit is loosely confined, the interior of said pocket being in open communication with the rest of the casing interior.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1; wherein said casing is formed of pliable sheet plastic, the opposed side walls of said casing being seamed together on spaced relatively short angularly related lines to provide a pocket with openings into the interior of said casing and in which pocket said inflating unit is loosely confined, said side walls being also seamed together on spaced parallel relatively long lines terminating short of the edges of said casing to provide a relatively large but moderately thin externally ribbed form for the article when inflated.

5. An inflating unit adapted for reception within a flexible casing or the like, said unit consisting of an elongated cartridge of highly compressed gas, said cartridge having a readily puncturable end, and a sleeve frictionally held on and surrounding an end portion of and which is endwise slidable in either direction at all times on said cartridge prior to puncturing same, said sleevehaving one end extending beyond said puncturable end of said cartridge, an end wall closing said extending end of said sleeve, and a puncturing pin mounted within the closed end of said sleeve in cooperable relation with the puncturable end of said cartridge, said puncturing pin being operable by forcibly sliding the closed end portion of said sleeve further onto said unpunctured cartridge, said sleeve having gas-escape .means therein for the gas released from said cartridge when sameis punctured.

6. A structure as specified in claim 5; said pin mounting means consisting of a disk closely fitting the sides of said sleeve in the closed end of same and substantial ly perpendicular to its axis, said puncturing pin being in the form of a tack, said tack being forced through said disk and having its head disposed between said disk and end wall and its point in position for puncturing the puncturable end of said cartridge when said sleeve is forcibly pushed in puncturing direction onto said cartridge.

7. A structure as specified in claim 5; said sleeve being longitudinally corrugated for resilient frictional holding of said sleeve on said cartridge and to provide it with a multiplicity of longitudinal internal passages, said passages constituting said gas-escape means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

